Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1523387
JULY 2024 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 19 as we grew larger, it became costly. Six years ago, we became certified trainers. Now, we can train on our own schedule. It makes it easier and more cost-effective. Ron Gonzales: Training only works if you comprehend it. We start with an elementary test to see if the person can comprehend what they're reading. ey need to have a certain level of comprehension in English and/or of technical terms; otherwise, the training won't be effective. We no longer do English as a Second Language (ESL) training here, but we need to know that if they have that type of comprehension. When Carlos eventually takes them onto the shop floor and hands them practice boards, both through-hole and SMT technologies are represented. We have them do both. Barry is right that displaying the certifications is important because our customers see that and think, "I'm in good hands." It takes three weeks for a new employee to become certified at Revco, which hurts the floor's throughput and production, but it's necessary. By doing that, we can back up our claim that all the employees know what they're doing on the floor. When we need third-party training, we use Ken Moore at Omni Training, who's helped IPC take photographs within the standards documents. We cycle through by departments, so we're not hurting production on the floor and can still produce the product. It takes a lot of time, but the benefits are huge. Just like with our ISO certification, many of our customers won't do business with us unless we have employees trained to the standards. Johnson: Mike, is it typical to see companies moving from third-party to in-house training? Mike Hoyt: Yes, especially when companies have large numbers of their employees getting certified. e dollars add up when you're sending them to a certification training center. If you can train in-house and control the overall process, it's more convenient for companies. Matties: One of my takeaways from our meeting was the availability of online courses that companies can use for front-end training. Mike, what trends do you see? Hoyt: A few years ago, the industry told IPC that certification provides value. Undoubtedly, you need that credential that shows someone knows the standard. However, many new hires come in without any experience in soldering. e J-standard certification program, however, was never designed to teach soldering; the certification program was only preparing students for the certification exam. ere was a real gap there. Over the past few years, we've worked with the industry to build training preparatory courses to get people working. You don't throw a new employee into an A-610-certification program in the first week. ey have orientation, on-the- job training (OJT), and shadowing. IPC has developed a way to onboard new staff without taking your best employees off the production line because they can give the new employees the f undamental s t h e y n e e d b e f o r e stepping on the floor. We have about a thousand different c o m p a n i e s u s i n g workforce training, and they are report- i n g p h e n o m e n a l results in terms of stat i st ic s and ROI Mike Hoyt